{"id":12942,"date":"2026-04-03T15:52:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/?p=12942"},"modified":"2026-04-03T15:52:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:52:30","slug":"tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Tree Fruit Newsletter &#8212; April 2, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In this newsletter:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bud Stage Development and Bud Survival<\/li>\n<li>Spring Herbicide Reminders, Guest Article<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\">Announcements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Bud Stage Development and Bud Survival<\/h3>\n<p>Some flower buds have just started to reach silver tip, while most are not yet there. Honeycrisp buds are swelling, but development has been slow thanks to the cold weather. Return bloom looks good despite last year\u2019s drought.<\/p>\n<p>Pear flower buds show no sign of winter injury and are swelling, but with no sign of green.<\/p>\n<p>Sweet cherry buds have greater than 90% survival, and a few buds have some sign of green tissue between bud scales.<\/p>\n<p>Peaches are in the early stages of bud-swell. Flower bud survival at Highmoor Farm ranges from 24% to 100% depending on variety and elevation of the orchard. I am finding greater survival, 94%, in the trees at 450 feet above sea level than at 350 feet, 77%. In the variety trial, survival is lowest in Autumnstar, 44%, and greatest in Glowingstar, 94%. Overall, our bud survival is greater than average. Anticipate a greater need for hand thinning if conditions continue to be favorable.<\/p>\n<p>Some of our peach trees are showing signs of stress from last year\u2019s drought. Shoot growth appears stunted and with poor flower bud development, but this is not widespread through the orchard. In addition, trees appear to have enough buds for a full crop if all goes well this spring.<\/p>\n<h3>Spring Herbicide Reminders, Guest Article<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.cornell.edu\/enychp\/tree-fruit\/apples\/2026-spring-orchard-pre-emergent-herbicides\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 Spring Orchard Pre-Emergent Herbicides<\/a> was posted on March 23, 2026. The link to the complete article is intended for New York growers so keep in mind that pesticide regulations may differ from Maine. For more info on herbicides for New England, visit the website: <a href=\"https:\/\/netreefruit.org\/weeds\/herbicide-active-ingredients\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Herbicide active ingredients : New England Tree Fruit Management Guide : UMass Amherst<\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Guest article, Mike Basedow and Janet van Zoeren, Cornell Cooperative Extension<\/h4>\n<p>If you weren\u2019t able to get pre-emergent herbicide on in the fall, spring still presents a good time to get something out before many annuals start to germinate. Below are some pre-emergent product recommendations to consider this spring.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For many products, at least \u00bd\u201d rainfall or irrigation is needed within 7 days after application to move (\u201cactivate\u201d) the herbicide into the soil solution.<\/strong> Delaying activation may reduce overall performance if some weeds continue to germinate under low soil moisture conditions or if herbicide at the surface of the soil is susceptible to sunlight breakdown.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, if you\u2019ve already got seedlings germinating, you will want to include a post-emergent product as well, such as <strong>paraquat, glufosinate (broadleaves and grasses), Aim, or Venue (small broadleaves only)<\/strong>. Pre-emergent products will also have little to no efficacy on your difficult perennial weeds that will emerge from belowground vegetative structures. These will likely need to be controlled later in the season with other well-timed, post-emergent products. For example, we\u2019ve had good luck in Eastern NY controlling quackgrass with applications of Select Max (or other generic clethodim) in April, making applications when quackgrass has greened back up and is between 6-12 inches in height.<\/p>\n<p>Add a post-emergent product this spring if your weeds have already begun to emerge.<\/p>\n<p><strong>While we do our best to be as accurate as possible, remember to always review the label before selecting your materials! Changes in pesticide registrations occur constantly and human errors are possible. Read the label before applying any pesticide. The label is the law. No endorsement of companies is made or implied.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Announcements<\/h3>\n<h4>Summer Tour at Highmoor Farm, July 29, 2026<\/h4>\n<p>This year\u2019s tour will be held at Highmoor Farm in the afternoon with an indoor program to start and an orchard tour after. Our guest speaker will be Kari Peters, a fruit pathologist from PennState University, who will talk about apple and peach diseases. The tour will be followed by dinner and a twilight meeting with David Handley, Mark Hutton and Peyton Ginakes. More details later. This event is sponsored by the Maine State Pomological Society.<\/p>\n<h4>Hudson Valley to Host IFTA Summer Study Tour \u2013 July 20-22, 2026<\/h4>\n<p>Save the date for the 2026 IFTA Summer Study Tour, to be held in the Hudson Valley, New York, July 20 \u2013 22, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The International Fruit Tree Association (IFTA), together with regional partners, is planning a multi-day tour showcasing the Hudson Valley\u2019s diverse tree fruit systems. Tour highlights will include commercial orchards, research facilities, and innovative marketing models. Participants can expect a strong emphasis on grower-led insights related to finished fruit production, value-added enterprises such as cider, and connections to regional markets.<\/p>\n<p>Additional details including the tour itinerary, host sites, and registration information will be released in the coming months. To find this information, please visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/ifruittree.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">International Fruit Tree Association<\/a> website.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Renae Moran<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/fruit\/\">University of Maine Cooperative Extension: Tree Fruits<\/a><\/p>\n<p>PO Box 179<\/p>\n<p>Monmouth, ME 04259<\/p>\n<p>(207) 933-2100<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"mailto:rmoran@maine.edu\">rmoran@maine.edu<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Mention of a trademark, proprietary product, or vendor does not constitute a guarantee or warranty of the product, nor does it imply approval or disapproval to the exclusion of other products or vendors that may also be suitable.<\/p>\n<p>University of Maine Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity institution and provider committed to nondiscrimination. For more information, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/nondiscrimination\/\">extension.umaine.edu\/nondiscrimination<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this newsletter: Bud Stage Development and Bud Survival Spring Herbicide Reminders, Guest Article Announcements Bud Stage Development and Bud Survival Some flower buds have just started to reach silver tip, while most are not yet there. Honeycrisp buds are swelling, but development has been slow thanks to the cold weather. Return bloom looks good [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tree-fruit-newsletter"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tree Fruit Newsletter - April 2, 2026 - Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tree Fruit Newsletter - April 2, 2026 - Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this newsletter: Bud Stage Development and Bud Survival Spring Herbicide Reminders, Guest Article Announcements Bud Stage Development and Bud Survival Some flower buds have just started to reach silver tip, while most are not yet there. Honeycrisp buds are swelling, but development has been slow thanks to the cold weather. Return bloom looks good [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-03T19:52:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"swright\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"swright\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"swright\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#\/schema\/person\/820653c187b608883de680eb1114cf9c\"},\"headline\":\"Tree Fruit Newsletter &#8212; April 2, 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-03T19:52:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/\"},\"wordCount\":845,\"articleSection\":[\"Tree Fruit Newsletter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/\",\"name\":\"Tree Fruit Newsletter - April 2, 2026 - Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-03T19:52:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#\/schema\/person\/820653c187b608883de680eb1114cf9c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tree Fruit Newsletter &#8212; April 2, 2026\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/\",\"name\":\"Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm\",\"description\":\"Information you can use. Research you can trust.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#\/schema\/person\/820653c187b608883de680eb1114cf9c\",\"name\":\"swright\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a8e782b2f662bce47c27662e4f3450070411da425d0295f06495571d4d842e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a8e782b2f662bce47c27662e4f3450070411da425d0295f06495571d4d842e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a8e782b2f662bce47c27662e4f3450070411da425d0295f06495571d4d842e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"swright\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/author\/swright\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tree Fruit Newsletter - April 2, 2026 - Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tree Fruit Newsletter - April 2, 2026 - Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","og_description":"In this newsletter: Bud Stage Development and Bud Survival Spring Herbicide Reminders, Guest Article Announcements Bud Stage Development and Bud Survival Some flower buds have just started to reach silver tip, while most are not yet there. Honeycrisp buds are swelling, but development has been slow thanks to the cold weather. Return bloom looks good [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/","og_site_name":"Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm","article_published_time":"2026-04-03T19:52:30+00:00","author":"swright","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"swright","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/"},"author":{"name":"swright","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#\/schema\/person\/820653c187b608883de680eb1114cf9c"},"headline":"Tree Fruit Newsletter &#8212; April 2, 2026","datePublished":"2026-04-03T19:52:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/"},"wordCount":845,"articleSection":["Tree Fruit Newsletter"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/","name":"Tree Fruit Newsletter - April 2, 2026 - Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm - University of Maine Cooperative Extension","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-04-03T19:52:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#\/schema\/person\/820653c187b608883de680eb1114cf9c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2026\/04\/03\/tree-fruit-newsletter-april-2-2026\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tree Fruit Newsletter &#8212; April 2, 2026"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#website","url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/","name":"Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm","description":"Information you can use. Research you can trust.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/#\/schema\/person\/820653c187b608883de680eb1114cf9c","name":"swright","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a8e782b2f662bce47c27662e4f3450070411da425d0295f06495571d4d842e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a8e782b2f662bce47c27662e4f3450070411da425d0295f06495571d4d842e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5a8e782b2f662bce47c27662e4f3450070411da425d0295f06495571d4d842e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"swright"},"url":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/author\/swright\/"}]}},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":182,"label":"Tree Fruit Newsletter"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"swright","author_link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/author\/swright\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":182,"name":"Tree Fruit Newsletter","slug":"tree-fruit-newsletter","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":182,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":28,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":182,"category_count":28,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Tree Fruit Newsletter","category_nicename":"tree-fruit-newsletter","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12942"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12947,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12942\/revisions\/12947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}